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Marvel opens digital comics storefront

Marvel unveiled the Marvel Digital Comics Store yesterday. If that doesn’t seem like news, it’s because Marvel already has a number of digital offerings, but what’s nice about this is that it syncs with the Marvel iOS and Android apps as well as their Chrome Store.

At one point, Marvel offered digital comics in five different formats, most of which didn’t sync with each other; the most egregious example was their Marvel app, which didn’t sync with comiXology’s app or web store even though it was built on the comiXology platform—it required a separate account and comics you bought on the Marvel app didn’t appear on comiXology’s Comics app. They have streamlined things quite a bit since then; the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited app is still a separate product but most of the others play nicely together. And it’s kind of cool that when you first go to the shop, you get a reminder that if you subscribe to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, you might already have access to some of the comics in the storefront. In other words, they are suggesting you don’t buy the same comic twice.

Although Marvel doesn’t mention it in their press release, the Marvel Digital Comics Store is really a comiXology storefront, which is why it works so well with the Marvel apps. DC has had its own web store for a while, also run by comiXology, so Marvel is a bit late to this particular party, but it’s a welcome addition to their digital services nonetheless.